Obama's minimum-wage push changes NY debate

3:52 AM,
Feb. 15, 2013

President Barack Obama speaks to workers and guests Wednesday at the Linamar Corporation plant in Arden, N.C. Obama says raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour and tying future increases to inflation will raise the incomes of millions living in poverty and spur job growth.

Written by

Jon Campbell
| Albany Bureau

President Obama's new push to increase the national minimum wage spurred Assembly Democrats to tweak their state-level plan on Thursday, while the top Senate Republican signaled he wants to wait for Congress to act before moving forward in New York.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, on Thursday changed his bill to mirror the proposal laid out by Obama in his State of the Union on Tuesday. Silver's plan would increase New York's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9 starting in 2014, while tying future increases to the rate of inflation; he had previously sought a jump to $8.50.